The Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly (Speyeria cybele) is one of the larger butterflies in our neighborhood, growing from 2 1/2 to 4 inches wide. Adult butterflies seek nectar from Milkweed, Thistles, Ironweed, Mountain Laurel, Vetch, Bergamot (Monarda), Red Clover, Joe-Pye Weed, Black-Eyed Susan, and Purple Cone-Flowers. It is a butterfly of open, moist fields, pastures, and meadows. It also flies very fast. Every time I see it, by the time I get my camera out of the bag, it is gone.
The female is darker than the male. Eggs are laid in late summer on a very specific host plant, the violet. The newly hatched caterpillars do not feed but overwinter until the next spring. Then they feed on the young violet leaves. The Great Spangled Fritillary produces only one brood from mid June to mid September.
In this photo the Great Spangled Fritillary may be attracted to the Monarda flowers in the foundation bed.
Photo courtesy of Jean Williams Mattson, Townsend, MA
